The Sound "From The Lion's Mouth" 1981*****

FTLM aka CD2 of the Sound boxset



The Sound from the lion's mouth is called a roar, or am I mistaken? Well, this record certainly begins that way with stellar anthem "Winning". Gradually the band's bravado evaporates, leaving place for introspection, depression and even desperation. Like the lions in front of the Christian saint in the album's cover, Adrian Borland sounded at times paralysed, ridden with self doubt. Thankfully, he was also an artist who could beautifully express the highs and (mainly) the lows of the human condition in words and music. "From the Lion's Mouth"was the Sound's second album. "Jeopardy", their first, had won them great reviews and a small but loyal following. Vindicated, they returned to the studio with a slightly bigger budget and a strong bunch of songs. The outcome was a masterpiece from beginning to the end. Unlike "Jeopardy" which was just a collection of (often great) songs, to enter "the lion's mouth"is to be immersed in the record's ambiance. Atmosphere is the key word here and it is achieved through the driving bass rhythm and synthesizers. Sound-wise it reminds of Joy Division, The Cure or Bauhaus, dramatic, dark but also melodic and emotional.

1.Winning ***** Dramatic synths open the record triumphantly with an ode to overcoming difficulties through sheer willpower. A great rock song and an uplifting message "I was going to drown/Then I started swimming/I was going down/Then I started winning...When you're on the bottom/Crawl back to the top/Something pulls you up/and a voice you can't stop/It won't let you stop". If you're feeling down, play it for inspiration. It won't fail you.

2.Sense of Purpose***** Another synth-driven anthem displaying a fighting spirit "A call to arms...a call to the heart/a call to have a heart/To have a sense of purpose again"

3.Contact the Fact**** A bass-driven song with a short but expressive guitar solo. A change in emotion: While the songwriter was ready to take on the world before, the loss of love renders him powerless "You mean the world/The real world to me/So watching you go/Is like watching a film in slow motion/Everything I touch/Turns to dust/And everyone I turn to/Turns on me"

4.Skeletons*****  Condemnation of meaningless existence and cry for escape from the mundanity of everyday life "There's a gaping hole in the way we are/With nothing to fill it up anymore/No flesh no blood just broken bone/A frame to hang our lives from/We're living like skeletons"

5. Judgement**** A slow atmospheric song, this one reminds me of The Cure "The moment is near, the moment of truth/But just what scared the life out of you?/You're so still, silent motionless/I can't watch and wait just to pay the price/Of your judgement"

6. Fatal Flaw**** The singer admits being defeated by his fatal flow (He was constantly fighting with clinical depression)  "A fatal attraction/Been growing away from the light/And I can't come back now...We all have weakness/Moments that we can't contain/Right now I'm all weakness/I'll make another retreat again"

7 Possession*** Another song on inner struggle "There's a devil in me/Trying to show his face/There's a God in me/Wants to put me in my place/I've got to get a hold of myself/I've got to be in possession"

8 The Fire*** A more angular, punkier song "Fell into the fire/I was led by the heart/Drawn towards the heat/Too fierce to contain/I'm a willing victim of circumstance"

9 Silent Air***** Another sad, melodic masterpiece "Thunder in the air/Before a storm that rips/Anger in my heart/A finger on my lips/You showed me that silence/That haunts this troubled world/You showed me that silence/Can speak louder than words"

10 New Dark Age***** Faraway drums ominously foretelling the oncoming New Dark Age "In the darkest times/Darkest fears are heard/And from the safest places/Come the bravest words/Some make a quiet life/To keep this Scared old world at bay/ The dogs are howling on the street outside/So they close the curtains/hope they go away...They're burning witches/Up on punishment hill/Dying proof in the power of authority/To exact it's will". By the end of the song, the drums are beating next to your eardrums, the guitars are howling and all that's left of us is "the dust on the floor". The spirit of resistance celebrated at the beginning of the record lies broken and beaten and the forces of oppression have won. It's one of the bleakest, most chilling and depressing songs ever but I love it. Many consider it a timely warning of the future of Thatcher-ite Britain, still in the early stages. I wonder if he was glimpsing 30 years ahead to our time. A world where racist and nazist speech is heard openly in the parliaments of the European republics, free people are reduced to serfdom because of debts, the elite rules from their castles with the power of money and guns, opposition is ridiculed or violently silenced, holy wars are raged outside the borders...Is that not the very definition of The Dark Ages?

Anyway, back to the music: this particular edition of the album sports a number of extra tracks. Single "Hothouse"*** Single B-Sides "Point Of No Return"*** (Cure-like and almost poppy) and "Coldbeat"*** (punky) as well as a number of live takes of  songs from the album (***/****). All in all ,very highly recommended, especially if you're into the post-punk/new wave scene. Easily in the Top-10 albums of the 80's and one of the all-time greatest LP's.